Use of morphisms as a tool to help learning object oriented concepts

Abstract

Software design implies searching for and establishing an adequate morphism between the real world and the desired software. Morphisms establish correspondences between different domains while some properties are preserved, at the same time. It allows seeing different things as the same, taking the substitute image for the real one. The more adjusted to reality the morphism is, the better the system models the real situation. We propose the use of morphisms as a pedagogical tool in order to teach object-oriented concepts and also to promote better software design. We developed a course based on the explicit use of morphisms. Through experimentation, we compared the results with an equivalent course not using morphisms. From the results we may infer that using morphisms helps to develop strategies to analyze and to construct adequate software models.